Realistic expectations next season

Interesting to gauge the thoughts of how M.J. is going to do next season with basically his own team. I don’t think his budget will be top half but I’m going for a top half finish anyway

Realistically I'm expecting a top half finish with potentially a chance to get into the play offs. It's his first full season in charge of a FL club, but providing he's given a decent amount of funding I think he will do very well. He's giving me more positiveness than any other manager since I can ever remember.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Interesting to gauge the thoughts of how M.J. is going to do next season with basically his own team. I don’t think his budget will be top half but I’m going for a top half finish anyway

Way too early to say. Let's see what happens over the summer. Budget is not the be all and end all, I doubt Accrington's budget was top half this season.

Agree with all the comments above, and expect and hope for a competitive team that can make some sort of attempt at the top 10 (and ideally, play offs), by playing some organised attacking football at times.

Quoted from pizzzza

Way too early to say. Let's see what happens over the summer. Budget in not the be all and end all, I doubt Accrington's budget was top half this season.

Accys budget was bottom 3

I just hope MJ gets his players in early, not leaving signings to the last minute like Slade did.

Hope:  Everything clicks and MJ takes a close-knit and hungry squad to in and around the playoffs
Expectation:  Some highs, some lows and a mid-table (9-16) finish

MJ will have to make some tough calls, but I hope whatever he does we don't end up with a large squad of older journeymen.  

He has a real chance to sell his team to potential up-and-coming players from U23 teams or squad fringes of higher leagues, as an opportunity to come and play first team football in front of 5-7,000 people at a decent-sized traditional old club who traditionally play passing football, where they can be coached by one of the more progressive coaches in the game, a Sean Dyche protege, and be supported in their development.

I think we should be winning at least 10 home games of the 23. That should put us in the top half. This year we won 6 which is awful. We only need to win around 12 to be close to the play offs judging by this year.

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Accys budget was bottom 3

Chesterfields was top 5

Quoted from cmackenzie4

I just hope MJ gets his players in early, not leaving signings to the last minute like Slade did.

I think MJ will be a lot more pro active than Slade and won't be wasting in time in the bookies or getting drunk in the crommy/trawl trying to chat the barmaid up when he should have been getting a decent squad together. All of those under 23 matches I'm certain he's spotted a few gems who have maybe drifted off course

Quoted from Cloudy

Chesterfields was top 5

Which proves another of our ex players is a excrement manager /coach

Minimum expectation is not to be in a relegation dog fight. I'd be pretty happy with a 60 point season (preferably with a good cup run).

However it can change pretty quickly in football and I wouldn't be surprised if we ended in a promotion battle next season

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

Accys budget was bottom 3

They've had a period of stability in the running and management of the club though.

Im not expecting but demanding we have the capability to finish in the top 7 next season, this is a bare minimum for us.
Im still most annoyed at how people where celebrating staying up this year like we had been promoted! The players should be ashamed of the league position and yes blame Slade to a certain degree but the buck stops with the players. they are the ones out there.

Fenty - Dont scrimp, the fans dont, they deserve the very best even if you dont like them. Without the fans you would not get the publicity you crave.

i just really hope that we get a team that can score more!

we have only managed it 11 times out of 45 games. and failed to score in 20 of the 45 games

Compare that to promotion chasers Notts County, they managed to score more than once 20 times, and only failed to score in 9 of the 45 games.

We are the lowest scorers in the league on 39, bottom of the table Chesterfield managed 47!

I may well come crashing back to earth in august but right now I'm extremely confident we can at least challenge for the play offs. It's been said plenty of times already, but if Jolley can get the same group of players that surrendered so pathetically to Yeovill and Morecambe (among many others), and produce such a good performance against Notts Co then the sky's the limit once he gets to build his own squad.

It will be his first full season and there's a chance he will find it much tougher than we all hope. If that does happen then I will still back him completely. Anything better than a relegation dogfight is an improvement so that's the minimum for next season. But I've no doubt Jolley demands much more of himself and his team than that.

I hope (more than expect) to see vast improvements 'off the pitch' next season.  Ideally a clear out in the boardroom and stability in the Supporters Trust.  I would love for JF to move on, but somehow save face.  Failing that, maintain his recent stance of remaining very much in the background.  Wouldn't it be great if we could somehow attract a 'chairman' that could work with JF.  Inject a few quid into the kitty and soak up some of the pressure. I would very much like to hear one way or the other about the new stadium and would hope that by the beginning of next season we know the way ahead.  As for 'on the pitch', as much as MJ has impressed us by making the best of a bad job, lets see how he gets on at signing players etc.  That's not a dig at him at all, just a plea to not expect too much from the guy in his first full managerial season.
I'll take half way or above and even a mini cup run would be nice.  
One thing is for sure.  At this moment in time, I envisage seeing a lot more games next season than I was thinking of two months ago !!    UTM

Basically everything above what`s been posted already.I see no reason why we can`t obtain midtable with a chance of the Play Offs fairly easily? I really want to see progress between the Club and fans I repeat again like a broken record BP with some dialogue NOW could easily see home gates of more than 5500 every week starting August.C`mon Town go for it target 6k now and be innovative the support is there and in my opinion the key to upping the gates barring the obvious on field improvement is you attracting kids and shift workers.UTM

Given the quality of football I saw on Saturday, if we could replicate that every week I think we would be in the top half of the table even with the current squad.

I have no doubt Jolley will bring in several new players to improve the team, so I think we can be play off contenders. Let's face it, we were play off contenders under Slade until January.

It is imperative though that we get at least one good striker. There are no natural finishers in the current squad. I see Dennis scored again for Chesterfield last night, I know people have reservations about his general play, but a poacher like that would be very useful to us.

I think we need a creative midfield player too, and we need to bring in some fresh legs at the back.

I have full confidence in Jolley to bring in the right players. Really looking forward to next season  now.  

Cannot see how anyone can have realistic expectations for next season until we know who has gone, resigned and been brought in.

Then we can start to see if we have any chance of challenging.

Its obviously impossible to say, but what I would say is that football has changed so much since we enjoyed any success, and the way to get that success has changed.

We have a great chance of starting almost from scratch, so this season will have no bearing on next. Given the correct budget, which means able to sign star players that their wage demands I am sure we will aiming for the top 3.

We are all behind the manager, so the budget is the key and it is amongst a number of things the board must provide.

I will be happy just to see some progress and bit of stability. We have had 4 managers and 2 caretaker managers in 2 seasons, not to mention players coming and going at an alarming rate. You can't run a football club like that and as Rodley pointed out, as well as Accy have done this season, it didn't happen overnight.

Last time we were in this position, we bumbled along in the same manner and went down the following season, so i'm expecting the club to have finally learned their lesson and get their sh1t together. From what we have seen of this league, it isn't really that great and i don't expect us to be struggling to score goals, despite having enough strikers over the season to almost make a starting eleven. Get out there and sign a proven goalscorer or two, no matter what. Wycombe conceded the same amount of goals as us, but have scored exactly double our tally to date. Good goalscorers are in demand and cost money, but they pay for themselves. The fans will turn up if we play attacking football and score goals.

Finally, if Jolley can get these players from the bottom of the form guide to top four, i'm curious to see what he can do with a smaller meaner squad of his own choosing.

I think top 7 is a step too far but certainly think we should be looking at finishing in the top half.

I am confident that Jolley will comfortably achieve this next season and unlike Bignot, he will not give up on the play-offs in March. With a bit of form at the business end we could make the play-offs but expecting it is setting the bar too high given the season we have just had and we have another summer of upheaval ahead.

I voted mid table but so much depends on how much of the current squad are offloaded and what calibre of player can be brought in. I'm expecting a much more youthful, pacy and fit squad next season

With our current squad, Look at what Jolley has done. Most people outside of Grimsby said we where certain relegation with the form we where on. He managed to bring in some of his own players in and Fox in particular has performed excellently. I expect him to vastly improve the squad as he obviously sees a good playing when he sees one. He has the brains, motivation and passions a successful manager needs and now he just needs the financial backing.

With all that said. I expect a top 7 finish. Even top 10 i would be happy with. Shows vast improvement.

After seeing Notts County and Swindon play, I expect us to win the league with 139 points.

(I'd probably accept a nice solid looking forward to 19/20 10th though)

I would be happy with a midtable to pushing for the playoffs next season after this year. We've got a great rebuild on our hands and I don't want to go into the season expecting too much, I would rather be pleasently suprised by a decent finish then bricking it come the end of the season.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

I would be happy with a midtable to pushing for the playoffs next season after this year. We've got a great rebuild on our hands and I don't want to go into the season expecting too much, I would rather be pleasently suprised by a decent finish then bricking it come the end of the season.

Pretty much sums ups being a football fan!

With the current squad a mid-table finish might be possible. Depends what changes we see in the Summer. If the quality is improved we could push for the play-offs but if there's a lot of new faces to bed in that could hold us back a little on the full potential.

So I'd expect mid table with a noticeable improvement in potential for the future.

Relegation battle again, mid table obscurity will be a bonus

Quoted from Ipswin

Relegation battle again, mid table obscurity will be a bonus

R U ok Ipswin?

intercourse it were going up as champions

on a realistic side though the improvement under jolly is emence, scored late goals in 5 of his games in charge , unbeaten in 5-6 home games under jolly won 3 of the last 4 and got a relegation fodder outfit to work hard for on another and actually work as a team that look threatening.

well done jolley UTM

Quoted from Grimsby2012

With our current squad, Look at what Jolley has done. Most people outside of Grimsby said we where certain relegation with the form we where on. He managed to bring in some of his own players in and Fox in particular has performed excellently. I expect him to vastly improve the squad as he obviously sees a good playing when he sees one. He has the brains, motivation and passions a successful manager needs and now he just needs the financial backing.

With all that said. I expect a top 7 finish. Even top 10 i would be happy with. Shows vast improvement.

agree with you. even with the chaos and dreadful squad he inherited his return is 12 points from 9 games which extrapolates to 61-62 points which is comfortably mid table. i suspect that even if he was forced to keep exactly the same squad he'd get us towards battling for the play offs

He’s found something in some of the players but let’s not kid ourselves some of them need shot of and new hungry young players brought in

Look at Newport... have done a lot better than they did last season. That'll be us next season  

Whilst we've had a good return of points in recent games, there was a big element of luck involved.  7 of those points were gained via 3 penalties, only the one against Barnet was a nailed on one for me.  You take away the Chesterfield and Swindon ones and that points return is looking less impressive.

For that alone, I'm not sure I agree that the current set-up would finish mid-table.  Jolley has made them far more oraganised and far more difficult to break down.  But this squad still has a chronic lack of pace and creativity, compounded by the fact we've no genuine goal threat.  Put it this way, I wouldn't be confident of this side going through the season grinding out 1-0's as a result of determined defending and penalties.

As for next season, the negative side of me points to the fact that Jolley will have to bring in a host of players.  For no other reasons that so many are out of contract and there can't be that many he'll want to retain anyway.  Flip of that is in 2 months Jolley has transformed a farce of a football team into one that has held it's own quite comfortably with the bigger sides, despite a serious imbalance in the squad.  He's managed to get them singing off the same song sheet in that short space of time, which is even more impressive when you consider how they looked devoid of hope, confidence and belief when he came here.  If he can do that with a mismatch of down-trodden souls in 2 months, in the midst of a relegation scrap, what can he do with a full summer with players he's actually recruited?

The budget will be key to what Jolley wants to achieve, which unfortunately may be hampered by what, I would imagine, will be relatively expensive players that are already under contract and we've little hope of shipping them out.  The likes of Dixon, Kelly and to a lesser extent Rose probably won't be in Jolley's plans but they'll be eating into whatever budget he does have.

The big concern for me is that our spine as it stands is Mitch Rose.  We've no contracted goalkeeper other than Ben Killip, no central defenders, Rose in midfield and then two strikers (Hooper and Cardwell) who aren't prolific.  Of that one player, I think we need to look at someone better than him so arguably it's a completely new spine needed.  Again, looking at it from a more positive perspective, that spine was junk for the vast majority of the season so the option to change it is a bonus.

I just hope that the style of football we've started to see under Jolley is very much part of what he wants to install as a philosophy because regardless of where we finish next season, it'll be entertaining to watch.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Whilst we've had a good return of points in recent games, there was a big element of luck involved.  7 of those points were gained via 3 penalties, only the one against Barnet was a nailed on one for me.  You take away the Chesterfield and Swindon ones and that points return is looking less impressive.

For that alone, I'm not sure I agree that the current set-up would finish mid-table.  Jolley has made them far more oraganised and far more difficult to break down.  But this squad still has a chronic lack of pace and creativity, compounded by the fact we've no genuine goal threat.  Put it this way, I wouldn't be confident of this side going through the season grinding out 1-0's as a result of determined defending and penalties.

As for next season, the negative side of me points to the fact that Jolley will have to bring in a host of players.  For no other reasons that so many are out of contract and there can't be that many he'll want to retain anyway.  Flip of that is in 2 months Jolley has transformed a farce of a football team into one that has held it's own quite comfortably with the bigger sides, despite a serious imbalance in the squad.  He's managed to get them singing off the same song sheet in that short space of time, which is even more impressive when you consider how they looked devoid of hope, confidence and belief when he came here.  If he can do that with a mismatch of down-trodden souls in 2 months, in the midst of a relegation scrap, what can he do with a full summer with players he's actually recruited?

The budget will be key to what Jolley wants to achieve, which unfortunately may be hampered by what, I would imagine, will be relatively expensive players that are already under contract and we've little hope of shipping them out.  The likes of Dixon, Kelly and to a lesser extent Rose probably won't be in Jolley's plans but they'll be eating into whatever budget he does have.

The big concern for me is that our spine as it stands is Mitch Rose.  We've no contracted goalkeeper other than Ben Killip, no central defenders, Rose in midfield and then two strikers (Hooper and Cardwell) who aren't prolific.  Of that one player, I think we need to look at someone better than him so arguably it's a completely new spine needed.  Again, looking at it from a more positive perspective, that spine was junk for the vast majority of the season so the option to change it is a bonus.

I just hope that the style of football we've started to see under Jolley is very much part of what he wants to install as a philosophy because regardless of where we finish next season, it'll be entertaining to watch.

I agree with a lot of this but I am happy for Jolley having a fairly clean slate to start with in terms of contracted players so his excess baggage at the start is quite low. I hope to see him operate to a much more quality over quantity in terms of squad and boost his squad numbers with home grown youngsters or loanees.I don`t want to get carried away especially because we don`t know what the squad will be but I have a feeling were going to be on the happy pills

Agree with most of that diehard, except that i think Jolley could get this squad to mid table as it is, with just a couple of competent strikers added to it. No one we have played around middle to top end has looked world beaters and we would have won a good few more points if we had someone who could put the chances away.

However, Jolley has the chance now to make a clean sweep and strengthen the weak areas of the team. In the short time he has been here, he's already totally changed the combinations to the left and right hand sides of the team. Who'd have thought it'd be RHJ and Clifton on the right side, with Fox and Hooper on the left? He quickly took Berrett out of the side too, once Summers regained fitness, and changed the role that Rose played to great effect. He soon worked out how to get the best from the squad he had and now has the chance to pick the squad he wants. You could say we were lucky, but you make your own luck and under Slade, we weren't even getting into the opposition box to miss chances and get dodgy penalties.

Top 5
I expect Fenty will back MJ otherwise he will soon be under pressure again

Quoted from ginnywings

Agree with most of that diehard, except that i think Jolley could get this squad to mid table as it is, with just a couple of competent strikers added to it. No one we have played around middle to top end has looked world beaters and we would have won a good few more points if we had someone who could put the chances away.

However, Jolley has the chance now to make a clean sweep and strengthen the weak areas of the team. In the short time he has been here, he's already totally changed the combinations to the left and right hand sides of the team. Who'd have thought it'd be RHJ and Clifton on the right side, with Fox and Hooper on the left? He quickly took Berrett out of the side too, once Summers regained fitness, and changed the role that Rose played to great effect. He soon worked out how to get the best from the squad he had and now has the chance to pick the squad he wants. You could say we were lucky, but you make your own luck and under Slade, we weren't even getting into the opposition box to miss chances and get dodgy penalties.

Probably the hardest thing to do in football.

In purely hypothetical terms, if Jolley kept this exact squad as it is and could pair Vernam with Cardwell (assuming he finds his goalscoring touch, because otherwise I think he's a very decent prospect) and could get some consistency out of Hooper down that left hand side, I think we would be mid-table upwards.  But that's assuming everyone stays fit and in form.   I know Jolley has worked a miracle here but if Fox was out, I would still imagine Dixon will be like playing a chocolate fireguard at left-back, equally so if say Woolford was injured, would Berrett come in and suddenly be a far better footballer?

Fair point on making your own luck, but it's no coincidence in my eyes that our best form in god knows how long as come at the time when we've kept a settled eleven.  During that spell, I didn't really see much on the bench to change things if needed or if anyone was unavailable. (yes, I know Matt came on and bagged the winner on Saturday but he was bloody useless otherwise!)

I'm sure it gets said every year but this is the worst standard I've ever seen in League Two.   I can't think of a single team who really impressed me. The league was there for the taking and we somehow managed to struggle in it!

M.J. really as turned our expectations round virtually 60% of votes cast say top 7 ...ffs only three back I was studying who was coming up via the non league south / north divisions for new grounds etc  

Quoted from dapperz fun pub

M.J. really as turned our expectations round virtually 60% of votes cast say top 7 ...ffs only three back I was studying who was coming up via the non league south / north divisions for new grounds etc  

You n me both